CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A proposal to provide vouchers to children attending private or religious schools was put off in the Senate on Thursday.

The head of the Senate’s Finance Committee, Salem Sen. Charles Morse, said the Department of Education made an error in looking at the cost of the program. He asked senators for more time to consider the plan by sending it back to his committee for next year.

The bill had passed in the Senate last week but did not include any provision for funding.

The plan called for the state to issue a designated number of certificates, worth roughly $3,000 to $4,000 per year toward tuition at nonpublic schools.

Proponents have argued this would give poor parents a chance to pick schools that best meet their children’s needs.

Opponents have argued the plan would draw state money away from public schools.